INCA

Geography

Geography

• Located on the western side of South America, near present day Peru and Chile.

• The Andes mountains separate coastal desert from the Amazon jungle.

• Did not live in the jungle• The Inca lived in the mountains and

along the coast

Government

• Ruled by the Sapa Inca.– All powerful.– Considered to be a God

• Very organized. Many layers of government. • Laws are enforced by local officials. They

would hear the evidence, decide guilt, and carry out the punishment.

• When they conquer a new tribe, they send people to the new tribe to teach them the Inca’s ways.

Fashions/Clothing

– Sapa Inca wears colorful embroidered clothes.

– Nobles wear large gold earplugs and tunics made from finely woven cloth.

– Ordinary people wear a simple tunic and cloak with sandals.

– Clothing was often made out of the wool from llamas and alpacas.

Fashions/Clothing

History

• Ruled present day Peru and Chile from around 1300 AD to 1532 AD.

• Conquered many smaller lands as they expanded.

History

• End was sudden– 260 Spanish soldiers

under Francisco Pizarro arrived around 1532 AD.

– Pizzaro captured the Sapa Inca, defeated the Inca armies and took over the capital city of Cuzco.

Fun Facts

• No Written Language• Used Quipus (Key-

poo), lengths of knotted string attached to a central cord. – Color stands for what is

being counted.– Various knots stand for

different numbers.

Fun Facts

• They believed in several gods. – Viracocha, the creator. – Inti, the sun god.• Inti was the father of the Sapa Inca. • There was a temple to Inti at the heart of all

cities and towns.

• They sacrificed animals to their gods, and sometimes even sacrificed people.

Unanswered Questions

• They had no writing• Our sources of information about

the Incas– Spanish conquerers– Archaeology, dig up remains and study

what they find• Mummies

Unanswered Questions

• What did they think about the Spanish when they arrived?

• What did they do for entertainment?

• How did it start?

Unanswered Questions

Unanswered Questions

• They left behind beautiful and precise stone work. However, they had no iron tools to carve the stones.

• How did they build them?

Sources

• The Inca Empire, Sandra Newman 2010.

• The Inca Empire, Jane Bingham 2007.• Peru, Sarah De Capua 2005.• Welcome to Peru, Dora Yip, 2002.• Eyewitness Aztec, Inca & Maya,

Elizabeth Baquedano, 2005.• Lost City, The Discovery of Machu

Picchu, Ted Levin, 2003.